


North

by IcyStarlight



Series: Voltron Drabbles [6]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Gen, Post-Canon, description of a panic attack, someone protect them, team as a family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-20
Updated: 2016-07-20
Packaged: 2018-07-25 13:14:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,456
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7534120
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IcyStarlight/pseuds/IcyStarlight
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Light years from home the paladins of Voltron, the protectors of the universe, are separated by a wormhole. Shiro reflects and thinks about what's next for team Voltron. What else, what else could the universe take from him?</p>
<p>Warning for descriptions of panic attacks.</p>
            </blockquote>





	North

**Author's Note:**

> AN: I’m probably going to cry while I write this and honestly you can take Shiro and Matt’s relationship anyway you want it, but you can’t take them from me. Title from the song North by Sleeping at Last. 
> 
> Warning for descriptions of panic attacks.

He doesn’t really remember his life on Earth before the Kerberos mission. He thinks Keith was there at some point but honestly that’s the only familiar memory he really has of the blue and green planet. Otherwise he just remembers prepping for the Kerberos mission with Matt and his father. Even now Pidge reminds him so much of their excited brother and their father. They’re exactly like a miniature Matt, once they started talking about science there was no stopping them. He hopes they find the missing Holts soon. For both Pidge’s sake and his own. 

So when Lance complains about missing Earth, Shiro really doesn’t understand. He looks at Keith who merely shrugs. Keith doesn’t really have any memories of his own about Earth before the garrison. That’s something that surprises the whole Voltron team. Pidge simply misses their father and brother. Their mother having passed away not long after the Kerberos mission took off. Shiro doesn’t stop to think about how that explains the unwavering determination to find the two missing Holts. In fact, he spends way too long thinking about it. 

Lance and Hunk will sit and discuss what they miss most about their home planet while the rest of team Voltron sits off to the side because there’s really nothing left for them there. Hunk had his mother and two younger sisters. The yellow paladin missed cooking for them, telling his sisters bedtime stories, and his mother’s baking. Lance came from a large family. He missed his playing with little cousins, his mother hugs, his father’s cooking, his aunt’s dance lessons, and bickering with his siblings. 

It’s the times like these when he really reflects on what Earth means to all of them. Lance will complain all the time about missing his family, but will never mention them ever going back. Hunk will make comments about it when Lance brings it up, but merely smiles as they talk of going to yet another system. Yet another million miles from Earth upon the lightyears they already were from it. 

Shiro doesn’t expect for either of them to ever argue to go back. He doesn’t even expect them to bring it up in anything other than a passing comment. He doesn’t say anything about Lance sometimes acting distant and spending his nights staring out into the stars. He doesn’t say anything about Hunk cooking extra food sometimes. He certainly doesn’t say anything when he hears the two discussing Earth out of range of the others. If his team is divided at all its between arms and legs. The two who are out here with him and the two who are still stuck halfway between here and Earth. 

If Allura or Coran notices anything about the team becoming strained they don’t say anything. Shiro doesn’t expect them to either unless it becomes absolutely necessary. After all both of them went through the pain of leaving their own home behind. Even if they could go back to Altea like the paladins could go back to Earth he doubts they would. They all have a mission out here as a part of the team. They all have a new home that is slowly coming together in the castle. That doesn’t mean there won’t be bumps in the road. 

The wormhole is a hit he never factored in. A curve ball he never expected to have to deal with. So when Shiro awakes on a woodland planet with his head pounding, ears ringing, and communications down he all but has a panic attack. That is until he sees something in his peripheral vision, a shadow of some sorts, that’s when he has a panic attack. 

The world is spinning and he can’t breathe. He stumbles out onto this unknown planet without even making sure its atmosphere is stable. He choking on oxygen and all he can feel is his heart beating out of his chest. A hand on his shoulder sends him into survival mode. He attacks whatever is next to him and barely registers blue falling to the ground as he comes away with a handful of black material. A faint, rapid string of an unknown language fills his ears. 

Spanish. That was Spanish, he recognizes it a second later. How can aliens speak Spanish? The only one this far out here – Lance! He just attacked Lance! Fucking shit. 

Sure enough his worry clears the panic in his mind like a strong wind as his focus comes to the blue paladin on the ground in front of him. He’s unconscious and bleeding badly from both the side Shiro just attacked and from his helmet. A new wave of panic rushes in and he’s struggling to breathe again. A hand touches his own and this time it takes all he has to merely flinch and not lash out. 

Lance is singing. 

His teammate is badly injured, bleeding profusely, probably delirious, and still is more worried about Shiro; so much that he is singing to the man. In Spanish, but to be fair that’s probably about the only language he can comprehend right now. 

It works though. Slowly the world is not caving in around them and Shiro uses the last of his strength to get Lance inside the Black Lion and slightly patched up to the best of his ability with his limited supplies. Thankfully the cut on Lance’s side is shallow and while the boy is still muttering to himself, his head is no longer bleeding. Shiro sets an alarm for an hour and gratefully embraces the sweet relief of darkness. 

The beeping scares the shit out of him till he remembers where he is and what’s going on. Right, Lance, check on Lance. 

Shiro reaches over and shakes the boy awake. Still half leaning on Shiro and the interior of the black lion, Lance opens his eyes and blinks a few times. He then shoots up and Shiro has to catch him as he almost faints from the pain of aggravating the stiches in his side. Thank god for med kits he had Pidge assemble and pack just in case. Lance coughs harshly and he coughs up blood into the hand he used to cover his mouth. Shiro swears and pulls the kid back down into a sitting position so he can examine Lance’s head.   
Besides for a forming scab near his left ear, Lance’s head injury seems fine. His side, however, looks nasty and if they don’t get it treated properly soon it’ll probably become infected. Shiro lets loose a string of curses that has the blue paladin staring at him in shock. He digs out some provisions and has Lance eat before he falls back asleep. More like falls unconscious again. It seems like he’s starting to run a fever which is definitely not good. 

Shiro spends the rest of the night fixing the com system and periodically checking on Lance. If between the two, he doesn’t get any sleep well then that’s just how it’s going to be. It’s around dawn when he manages to make faint contact with Pidge who is a few systems over. Pidge gets their location and says that they’re on their way. 

In his own exhaustion he doesn’t see the Galra ship upon them till it’s too late, he yells for Pidge to find the others and then come get them. He can’t even hear Pidge’s arguments as both he and Lance are sucked up by the Galra fleet. He grabs onto Lance as the black lion jolts and he loses consciousness. This time he tells himself he won’t be scared. This time he knows help is coming. This time though, he has more to lose. 

He awakes in a cell with Lance next to him. They’re both chained up to the wall and he can feel the bruises on his body. Lance is running a horrible fever, he can feel the other’s body heat from here, and the infection is probably setting in. Now they were both prisoners on a Galra ship and both the black and blue lions were probably in Zarkon’s hands. God fucking dammit. At least the others were hopefully safe. That’s all he could hope for. 

It’s about a few hours, he reckons, till a Galra soldier comes to the front of their cage. The enemy opens the doors and if he wasn’t so worried about Lance he would have charged five seconds ago. Two soldiers actually as another one steps into view. The arrival of the second soldier makes the first look like a child in comparison. The size difference is something odd but he has more important things to worry about. The taller one pins him down before he realizes it. Not that he can fight much chained up like this, but his prosthetic arm is pinned down before he can do anything about it. What the hell was going on?

The smaller Galra unchains Lance from the wall and hefts the boy over their shoulder. No. 

“No don’t take him, take me! I’m the better fighter, I’m the better soldier, no please let him go! He’s injured please I beg of you!” His resistance is futile as the taller soldier knocks him out and the last thing he can see is Lance being carried off to god knows where. No, he couldn’t lose another crew member again. But his cries are met with silence and the humming of the ship is the only answer he gets. 

It kills him inside. 

That’s the first thing he realizes upon waking. That it’s killing him not knowing where the others are or if Lance is okay. How did Pidge ever deal with knowing their family was alive out there and not being able to do a damm thing about it? What about Pidge? Where they okay? Had they found any of the others yet? Was Hunk okay? Was Keith hunting down the others as he sat here? Were Allura and Coran already planning a counter attack?

It wasn’t very long till Zarkon came looking for answers, or worse, till Zarkon sent the druids to deal with him. He was already panicking just thinking about it. 

And they did come, they just didn’t come for him. He saw the druids walk right by him. Right by his cell as if he was just another prisoner. They told him they knew he was here. They told him that they didn’t know how he had cloaking technology on him or where he got it from, but they were going to find him even if it took killing every prisoner in the empire to weed him out. 

He didn’t really think about it too much because whatever was happening he was grateful for it. 

Those same Galra soldier who took Lance away would always walk by. The first few times he would charge at them and yell profanities till they shocked him with an electric rod. After that he realized it wasn’t doing him any good. So he took to merely glaring daggers at them. If looks could kill he would have already taken them out more times than he cared to count. 

The druids slowly worked their way through the prisoners around him. He could hear the screams of the ones being tortured. Where was the princess? The lions? How had he managed to get the blue paladin out? How had he gotten the lions out? Why was he still here if the other had escaped? 

Lance had escaped? Then that meant those Galra soldiers had helped him? Lance had been in no shape to escape on his own, much less walk five feet. What had happened?   
He didn’t get the answers right away. He got them in bits and pieces. A scrap of paper in a meal telling him just five more days. Another telling him Lance was okay. Another that said the others were all fine. Another telling him to trust these two Galra guards so he could escape. The last telling him that he better run fast and ask questions later because their time frame was short. 

The druids came and left with another corpse. That’s when keys were thrown to him. A similar memory of his pervious escape flashes in his mind. That’s when he freed himself and his cell door opened. Right after the druids had gone he followed to Galra soldiers out of the prison. He has so many questions to ask but he knows this might be his only opportunity. They sneak around the ship, dodging patrols and droids. The reach a hanger with one lone ship in it. 

It’s Altean. 

The ship is Altean. He turns to look at the taller Galra soldier assuming it to be Allura, but in fact it’s the shorter one whose appearance shifts. It takes a few minutes for his brain to process what’s currently happening.

Keith. Galra. Keith disguised as Galra. But that’s not possible. Keith is Galran. 

What. The. Fuck.

He can feel his mouth hanging open and he’s probably gaping like a fish. His stupidity in letting himself be surprised costs them. The druids come after them. He and Keith are shoved on the ship. The other Galra soldier sends them off, they sacrifice themselves so that he and Keith can escape. He still is dumbfounded over Keith. Until Keith’s pounding on the ship’s door crying and screaming.

Father.

That was Keith’s father. 

He let another family member of his team die. He cost Keith his dad’s life. He can only do what he knows to do and gather Keith into his arms. They sit on the floor of the ship as it goes wherever it’s supposed to. Keith sobbing into his shirt. He tightens his hold on the red paladin. The stars shine around them but the only thing he knows is the heart wrenching sobs echoing throughout the small ship. If he doesn’t think about it, it’s almost like the universe is kind to its protectors. But he it’s all he can think about. 

How the universe is slowly stripping its protectors of all they love. Of everything that could hold them back. He doesn’t think about that last part. He doesn’t want to lose any more of his team, his family. He doesn’t want to be the reason some one cries again.

They’re light years from any place they ever called home when he and Keith reach the castle. Lance is walking with a limp and Shiro can’t even look at him anymore because that was his fault. Pidge runs to hug the two and Shiro doesn’t even have to think about why. 

They were the protectors of the universe, but who was going to protect them?

**Author's Note:**

> This is never going to be continued as far as im concerned bc its just one of the many ideas i have for what happens next. Also Galra Keith is my life rn so expect more of it in the future.


End file.
